Man assaulted by cop awarded nearly $29Gs

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On Aug. 14, 2008, Garett Rollins was celebrating his 19th birthday, looking forward to starting college in the fall to study police foundations and then going on to realize his dream of becoming a cop.

By the end of his birthday party, all of that lay in ruins: Rollins was bruised and bloodied from being beaten by Niagara Regional Police and under arrest for assaulting an officer.

A long eight years later, Rollins has finally been vindicated: A judge has awarded him $28,500 in his civil suit against Niagara Regional Police, its police board and Const. Matt Pouli for assault, wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.

“I’m happy with the outcome,” said Rollins. “I think it’s the right one. It altered my life. I had to change career paths. It turned my world upside down.”

Instead of becoming a police officer, he now works in St. Catharines as a real estate agent.

Justice Paul Sweeny found Rollins a “credible witness” who did nothing to deserve a beating that night by Const. Matt Pouli which left him with a “big goose egg on the side of his face,” chipped teeth, a split lip, cuts on his face, blood on his shirt and sore wrists. And why? Because he had the nerve to question Pouli’s colleague for shoving one of the female party guests.

When the police arrived at about 1 a.m. to break up the party, Rollins told his friends it was time to leave. The judge found they were “young people, drinking, dancing and having fun” who complied with the police request.

But the atmosphere changed when Const. Benjamin Tomiuck pushed a girl into a wall, he said. When Rollins dared to question what he was doing, the cop responded, “We can do whatever the f--- we want.”

“You don’t have to be such dicks about it,” Rollins replied.

“PC Pouli took exception to the words used by Mr. Rollins. He overreacted. He punched Mr. Rollins. Mr. Rollins put up no resistance, stepped back and put his hands up,” Sweeny wrote in his ruling released last week, dismissing the police contention that the young man was trying to assault them.

“Mr. Rollins did not take a fighting stance or invite PC Pouli to fight ... It is not reasonable to believe Mr. Rollins, a person who was enrolled in a police foundations course, would want to fight with a police officer.”

Rollins said Pouli punched him several times in the head and then continued to hit him on his sides when he fell to the ground. The officer then banged his head on the concrete floor, told him he was under arrest and slid his face through the blood, saying, “So I am a dick, eh, big mouth?”

Once outside, Pouli slammed Rollins’ head against the patrol car and then took him to a holding cell. Released the next morning on a promise to appear, he went to the hospital where he was treated and his injuries photographed.

On his birthday the following year, Rollins was found not guilty of assaulting a peace officer. It was a bittersweet birthday present.

The effects of that police encounter have proven long-lasting.

“This was a significant event in his life,” Sweeny noted. “It altered his future career plans forever.”

The judge awarded Rollins $5,000 in damages for the police assault and $2,500 for his bogus arrest: “Pouli was the aggressor and applied force to Mr. Rollins without his consent and with no justification at law. Therefore, PC Pouli is liable for assault,” Sweeny ruled. “PC Pouli did not have reasonable and probable grounds to arrest Mr. Rollins. Mr. Rollins did not assault PC Pouli.”

He was also awarded $11,000 for malicious prosecution and $10,000 in punitive damages.

Niagara Police did not respond to a request for comment on the damning decision. As for Pouli, he remains a police officer and a well-paid one at that. According to the most recent Sunshine List, he made $142,000 in 2015.